On the epistemic challenge to democracy

This is inquired into from different perspectives, such as voting and risk, the ethics of voting, and blameworthiness and voting. The dissertation also takes into account several moral objections to a scheme of restricted voting, such as the value of the right to vote, the notion that citizens in a democracy have “a right to vote badly”, and the problems of deciding who possesses the “correct” or adequate knowledge and wisdom. The objective is to determine which scheme is more normatively attractive – an epistocracy where political outcomes are presumed to be better, or a democracy where everyone has a say.